Story+2006-06-12+New+York+City,+NY

´´Welcome, friends....alright, hello, New York....go ahead, Larry....alright, we got a, uh, immigrant song for New York City.... (....) For all you travellers out there....´´
 * 22.06.06 New York City, NY, intro to ´´American Land´´**

´´Yes, yes....let´s hear it for the mighty horn section....Ed Manion...Mark Pender....La Bamba Rosenberg....Art Baron....his mama´s in the house tonight....alright, alright, I feel good now ....yes, yes, I do, hold on....alright, we gotta test, I´ve been telling the band about the blood-thirsty New Yorkers in Madison Square Garden (crowd cheers) better be good tonight, better be good (chuckles) we´re gonna test those blood-thirsty vocal chords, alright....how many New Yorkers we got out there tonight? (huge cheers) I gotta ask it: any New Jerseyans? (huge cheers) oh my God, oh my Lord....I´m gonna have to say alright, New York, you go first, alright....Get out the way, old Dan Tucker, come on, New York (crowd sings the chorus) once more (crowd keeps singing) go ahead (crowd sings) alright, New Jersey, let´s hear you (crowd sings)(chuckles)...it´s close, let´s hear New York again (crowd sings) New York (crowd sings) New Jersey (crowd sings) in the interest of peace and brotherhood, everybody at once, come on (crowd sings)....´´
 * 22.06.06 New York City, NY, intro to ´´Old Dan Tucker´´**

´´Here´s a beautiful song, uh, originally a gospel hymn....and, uh, a gospel hymn called ´Hands on the plow´....was, uh, rewritten in the mid-50s by Civil Rights activist Alice Wine ...a beautiful freedom song....it´s called ´Eyes On The Prize´....´´
 * 22.06.06 New York City, NY, intro to ´´Eyes On The Prize´´**

´´Alright, this is a, uh, historical ballad originated in the immediate aftermath of the murder of Jesse James by a friend for 25 dollars....written by minstrel Billy Gashade, rewritten by Woody Guthrie in ´39 but this version is derived from the original, uh, holds to the maxim of when a legend becomes a fact, you write the legend, so....´´
 * 22.06.06 New York City, NY, intro to ´´Jesse James´´**

´´Yes, yes....thank you.....here´s a beautiful work song....through the whole....songbook of canal ballads, this song´s about the Erie Canal....the Eighth Wonder of the world, changed the way life and commerce went about its business in the mid-1800s....this was written by a guy named Thomas Allan....alright, gonna need a little help, here we go...yes, and one of the most significant, uh, songs in the genre of mule appreciation....it´s a lost, it´s a lost subject now, one of those things that, it´s a shame....there´s quite a few good ones out there (chuckles) mule songs, that is (chuckles)....alright, give me a little hand with the chant here, here we go....(crowd chants) oh yeah....you´re prepared (chuckles)....sounds good....´´
 * 22.06.06 New York City, NY, intro to ´´Erie Canal´´**

´´Good singing out there, well done.....this is a beautiful song, written, uh, about the Oklahoma Dustbowl by Bill and Agnes Cunningham, members of the Almanac Singers.... founder editors of Broadside Magazine, this song´s only been recorded a couple of times, it´s hard to believe, such a beautiful song with so much great detail and, and, uh....a lot of humour (chuckles) but, uh....as a kid, you know, you read in the history books and heard of things like the Dustbowl, thousands of people getting pulled up out of their homes and sent out across the country with not much more than they could carry, those were always the kinds of events that....that seemed to happen in somebody else´s lifetime until now, so this is ´Where is my Oklahoma home? It´s blown away´....(off-mike: ´Like we did last night, fellas) ....´´
 * 22.06.06 New York City, NY, intro to ´´My Oklahoma Home´´**

´´Yes, yes....let´s hear it for the horn section....Art Baron - his mama´s here tonight....(?).... yes, yes, yes, oh darling, let´s go.... ´´
 * 22.06.06 New York City, NY, intro to ´´If I Should Fall Behind´´ (following ´My Oklahoma Home´)**

´´Yes....Miss Patti Scialfa....on the guitar and vocals....she´s been drug out of semi-retirement (chuckles) for New York City (chuckles) alright (chuckles)....this is a song written in 1815, was originally published as a Dublin Broadside, they had to write these then and, uh....still gotta write ´em now, unfortunately....´´
 * 22.06.06 New York City, NY, intro to ´´Mrs.McGrath´´ (following ´If I Should Fall Behind´) **

´´Thank you, thank you.....the lovely Soozie Tyrell on the fiddle....and Sam Barfeld....(?) our first, uh, our first actual, actual job was in New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival....and I´ve been telling the folks every night it´s hard to explain what New Orleans is like because, uh, you can´t really get it from the television or the newspapers, the drive through a half-emptied out American city, miles upon miles of a hundred thousand homes destroyed....and half the population gone is, uh, I´ve never seen anything quite like it but, uh....if you´re a musician, of course New Orleans is, uh, sacred ground, it´s the heart and soul of so much of the music we´re playing up here tonight....all that stuff got mixed up down there and came out as rhythm and blues and jazz and rock´n´roll and folk music....uh, this was a song by a fellow named Blind Alfred Reed....and uh....he wrote this, uh, I guess a month after the Great Depression, uh, on our way down there and it´s a, uh, it´s gonna (?) it needs, it demands, it deserves so much national attention, it´s a city that´s given so many beautiful things and beautiful people to American life....I ask you to be, ask you to be vigilant....but, uh, I kept Mr.Reed´s first verse and then I wrote three other ones, uh, uh, in honor of our President´s unfortunate early visit down there where he managed to gut the only agency there to help American citizens in times of disaster through political cronyism....but that´s all in a day´s work....we got some money going down there now....so, uh....a tip of the hat to Mr.Reed and also (?) region we owe a debt to....this is ´How can a poor man stand such times and live?´ ....´´
 * 22.06.06 New York City, NY, intro to ´´How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live?´**

´´Yes, yes, yes, we are all climbing Jacob´s Ladder....Jacob was in the Bible, he was always fucking up in God´s eyes and God kept giving him, giving him another chance....´cause He don´t like quitters....He kept giving him another chance....so you got to work your way there step by step....´cause there ain´t no free ticket....there ain´t no car pool lane....there ain´t no backstage pass....ain´t free pizza or beer....you got to work every inch of the way, you´ve got to pick yourself up....you´ve got to step right up, step by step, inch by inch, mile by mile, choice by righteous choice.....rung by rung, you´ve got to climb that ladder....come on, boys, one, two, three....´´
 * 22.06.06 New York City, NY, intro to ´´Jacob´s Ladder´´**

´´Alright....Cindy Mizelle on the vocal, Lisa Lowell on the vocals, come down, darling, Curtis King singing....yes, yes....yes, yes....yes, yes, woo....this is kind of the song that, uh, this is the song that kicked off our whole little adventure up here....and it´s all sort of happened by accident ´cause it wasn´t exactly the kind of thing you would sit down and think up (chuckles) and so, uh....I guess this is, you know, one of the most important political protest songs of all-time though that sort of puts it....in a box that it´s too big to....there´s so much more to it, it asks very fundamental....very fundamental questions that have not, have not yet been answered....and uh....it´s a beautiful song, it´s been sung so much sometimes you, you lose your ability to hear it and you forget its tremendous importance, wherever people are struggling, this song´s always been sung and the issues that this song has raised, coming right up from the Labor Movement in the ´30s through the Civil Rights Movement in the ´50s, remain unaddressed, remain unaddressed for so many people, so....this is our little prayer tonight....´´
 * 22.06.06 New York City, NY, intro to ´´We Shall Overcome´´**

´´I´m gonna sing this one by myself tonight, I´m gonna need your help on it, though, and, uh ....this was a song written by Pete Seeger, I believe in 1965 and, uh, they re-recorded it recently with, uh, Steve Earle and some other folks so I´m gonna send this one out to, uh, Steve tonight.....´´
 * 22.06.06 New York City, NY, intro to ´´Bring ´Em Home´´**

´´Yes, yes....alright now....let me see, the accordion went to Texas as polka music, went across the border, came back as....mariachi and ´cajunto´....some Caribbean influence in this thing somewhere (chuckles)....and somebody dyed their hair and it turned into English ska music (chuckles)....a little help....´´
 * 22.06.06 New York City, NY, intro to ´´Ramrod´´**

´´Thank you, thank you so much....I wanna thank everybody for coming out....thanks for coming out and taking a chance on our fine old adventure here, we appreciate that, appreciate that very much.....had a great night, it´s great to bring this to Madison Square Garden....yeah....a lot of, uh, a lot of good nights here, add this one to the bunch....oh, man, I wanna also thank all these wonderful musicians that came my way by (crowd cheers) by.... we got old friends and new friends and some blood up here tonight....great Marty Rifkin on the steel guitar....played on ´The Ghost of Tom Joad,´ ´Devils&Dust´ ....Charlie Giordano on the accordion and keyboards....beautiful Cindy Mizelle on vocals....the handsome Curtis King on vocals....the lovely Lisa Lowell on vocals....the charismatic Mr.Larry Eagle on drums....Art Baron and his mama here tonight, that´s fabulous....(?) alright, alright, alright, alright, Mr. Clarke Gayton on the trombone.....Richie La Bamba Rosenberg....Mark ´Love Man´ Pender...Curt Ramm on the trumpet....Eddie Manion, ´Thin Man´ Manion on the saxophone....Frank Bruno on the guitar and vocals....Sam Bardfeld on the fiddle....Greg Liszt on the banjo....the fabulous Soozie Tyrell on vocals and fiddle....Jeremy Chatzky on the bass....Mr.Marc Antony Thompson on guitar and vocals....and the lovely Miss Patti Scialfa ....on guitar and vocals tonight....thank you, thank you....I thank them, this was a, uh, song we learned as we went into New Orleans and I guess it´s kind of the theme song of the city, it´s one of those songs (?)(chuckles) I found a couple of verses that actually the Weavers sing this, this very song on their, on their version and I also came across it in an old folkbook that I had, uh, these two extra verses kind of opened up the song for me and also sort of explain what our, our whole little project tonight here is about so, uh, we send this one out to you, thanks a lot....´´
 * 22.06.06 New York City, NY, intro to ´´When The Saints Go Marching In´´**

//Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi//